Boxing the Stars
by SansaandWinterfell
Summary: Sansa is finally ready to leave Kings Landing, Bran's birthday is fast approaching, and Robb can't get her, but his best friend happens to be in town. Jon and Sansa go on a cross country road trip.


Boxing the Stars

After dad died mama stayed at the big house in the Colorado mountains with the boys; Robb and his wife, Jeyne, moved in as well to help out. She was already in college, her second year. When dad died Arya had wanted to drop out of high school, but Jon talked her out of it. He told her she could do whatever she wanted after she tried college, like dad would have wanted.

Nobody tried to talk Sansa out of it though. She got a job at Highgarden Florals, and lived in a single apartment with a shady landlord. Being home hurt after dad died, everyone was close enough to notice the space left behind, so she left. It wasn't as abrupt as that, but she left nonetheless. At first it was great, she was the heroine of her own novel.

Robb drove her down to Georgia from Winterfell, and helped her move in. Just them, even at 20 she had been thrilled at the prospect of spending time with her brother. Arya could help Jeyne handle the house for the few days he was gone. Robb bought her some wine to keep around the apartment until her birthday, and they ordered pizza and watched DVDs until they fell asleep on the couch, the move finally catching up to them.

He took her grocery shopping before he left, and helped her set up a bus pass. "When you're ready to come home call me," he told her before he left. "It could be tomorrow, and I'll turn the car back around; it could be ten years from now, I'll come back and get you. Promise." She had been crying and it made her laugh at the thought of wanting to leave the city, but recently every time they spoke she could feel the words threatening to spill from her lips.

She ihad/i been happy. The girls down the hall went to the university and they'd go out for drinks together on Thursdays. She worked at Highgarden, as a florist. The owners were siblings who were nice, they invited her up for dinner sometimes. Marg, one of the managers, would go and get manicures with Sansa every other Friday. Marg was always trying to push her toward Willas, the oldest Tyrell brother. What was worse was her landlord was always trying to set her up as well, with himself.

Instead of the glamorous lifestyle she imagined for herself, single girl in Kings Landing, she sat in her apartment cooking for one watching repeats of America's Next Top Model. She should get a cat, but Petyr would probably forbid it. He probably wouldn't protest a fish, at this point another presence would make her less lonely.

Bran called her at least once a week, every Wednesday when he got back to his dorm, sometimes more but never less, and today was no different. She called out to Marg that she was taking her break before stepping outside the back door to answer. "Hi Bran," she wiped her hands down the front of her apron.

"Hi San," he always emphasized the rhyme.

"How were your classes today?" Even though she hadn't finished school she was proud of him for picking up and going to the Wall in Minnesota. It was his first year, but he always sounded happier than she had.

"They're good, everyone's getting ready for Halloween so it's hard to concentrate in my lecture class." She laughed a bit at that, Bran was always smart and quick to catch on. If he liked something he gave it his full attention.

"They're excited, that's a big holiday at college, are you going to go out with your friends?" She hoped he was. Holidays were the best time to meet new people, Sansa had once told Arya.

"No, they're going to be studying for midterms." He didn't sound put-out by that, not like she would have been. Robb and Theon had gone to school together and she was sure they would have held their own Halloween party before they decided not to go out, midterms or not.

"Are you guys at least doing something fun for your birthday?" October 29, she'd been in the delivery room with mama when he was born, the first baby she'd ever been allowed to hold.

"It's on a Wednesday, there's nothing fun to do on Wednesdays. We're probably just going to study." That wouldn't do at all.

"Are Robb and Rickon coming up at least?"

"I told Robb they didn't have to. San, don't worry about me. It's only a birthday."

"It's not only a birthday, it's iyour/i birthday."

"Everyone's really busy, it's fine. I've gotta go though, we're going for dinner. I miss you."

"I miss you too Bran, love you."

"Love you too," Sansa glanced at the time. Not enough, she'd have to call Robb later.

She certainly wasn't as close to her family as Margaery was. They shared a flat above the shop, except Garlan who lived just outside of the city with his wife. Marg always asked how her family was though, which Sansa appreciated. She suspected it was why Marg had hired her in the first place. Knowing how important family was to Marg may have been the reason Sansa let it slip that she might want to move back home.

"Is your mom doing ok?" Margaery set aside the arrangement she was working on for a Targaryen benefit that evening.

"I mean as good as she can be. It's a lot of pressure on Robb to look after her and my brother. His wife's having a baby, that's too much to expect of one person."

"I know what you mean, our mother ran this place. When she died Loras, Garlan, and I moved here to help Willas, that's what family does." Sansa left her family when the going got tough. It was probably why Marg thought she could turn Sansa into an honorary Tyrell. Sansa usually tried to forget about that, Margaery was easy to talk to, even if she couldn't tell her everything.

Sansa locked up the shop that night; Marg went up early to get changed for the benefit. She texted Robb, letting him know she was leaving work, and hopped on a bus. Her apartment was in a good part of town, she didn't think there'd ever be a time she found her landlord less than creepy, but at least he cut her a good deal on rent. Unfortunately that meant she had to humor his conversations, which happened often, and always felt longer than necessary.

Tonight was no different. Petyr's door was open, "Sansa," he called. She paused at the stairwell. He closed the door and walked with her up the stairs. He always started off talking about something related to the apartment. Sometimes it would transition into how unsafe it was for her to take the bus this late at night, and end with him offering to pick her up from Highgarden. iNo, thank you though/i, she would always say. Other times he would talk about the ground floor apartments being bigger, he lived on the ground floor, and the one next door to him happened to be available. iUgh, he probably has a hidden door into it./i Marg said when Sansa told her about that. At least she could remind him that her brother insisted on a second story apartment, so it would be less likely to be broken into.

Tonight he followed her up to her door, and before she could fumble in her bag for her keys he pulled one from his pocket. "It isn't safe for such a beautiful woman to live alone here," he held the door open for her. She knew landlords had keys, but that he had it so readily accessible made the back of her neck prickle. He put his hand on her bicep, "I meant what I said, if you moved downstairs I could keep a better eye on you. Keep you safe." She hardly heard what he said, focusing on keeping her face neutral, lest she offend him.

Her phone started to go off, Robb's tone, Robb was saving her. Petyr saw himself out when he heard her greet her brother, she made wide sympathetic eyes at him. "Was your bus delayed?" Robb asked.

"No, my landlord caught me when I was on my way up. Sorry, I was going to text you when I got inside."

"Ah, ok. Good good." he sounded a little distracted.

She thought about the key in Petyr's pocket, and the words finally came out of her mouth. "I'm ready to come home."

"It's not a good time right now Sansa," ioh,/i she hadn't expected that. "Maybe in a couple of months."

"Months?" She coudn't wait months.

"Are you hurt?" Robb's tone was worried.

"No," she answered quickly, ijust scared/i.

"Then you'll have to wait San," she could tell he was shaking his head.

"You promised Robb. You promised when I wanted to come home you would come and get me." She hadn't wanted to say it, but if her life continued following the path it was on Petyr would be living in her apartment and driving her to and from work.

"I know what I said, and I will. I just can't right now and I think you're being selfish to expect that." Robb's words cut her, he didn't understand that being scared came with living alone. She didn't have anyone else to go to. "Jeyne can't sit behind the wheel of a car. What if something happened to Rickon? Mom can't go and get him with all the medication they have her on. It's on me Sansa," she could feel the telltale lump in her throat. She knew he was under a lot of pressure.

"Yeah, sorry. You're right." She had to get off the phone before she started to cry. "I've got something to do so I'll just talk to you later."

"San,"

"No, really." He had to let her get off the phone, she was just going to have to deal with this herself; crying wouldn't solve anything, it would only make her feel worse if she made him feel guilty on top of everything else. "I love you, I'll talk to you later."

"Love you too," she hung up before he could say anything else. She let herself cry for a while, and washed her face. She resigned herself to go to bed, maybe she would feel better in the morning, maybe she would consider this an overreaction. She pulled her blankets over her head, the way she taught Bran to do when he was scared. It was only nine, and the hall was still active. Every creak made her nervous, had her shooting up in bed, someone grabbed her door handle and she reached for the paperweight on her nightstand. They didn't come in, it was probable that they just thought her door was theirs.

She grabbed her phone and hit the contact for Margaery's number. "Can I stay at yours tonight?" Marg was one of like five people in Kings Landing with a car.

"Honey I'm at the benefit, right now." iShoot/i, "Is it your landlord again?"

"Yeah," she'd take Marg's set-ups and prying over Petyr any day.

"I'm going to have Gar come and get you ok? Pack a bag, we're staying there after the benefit." Sansa agreed. It took Garlan fifteen minutes to get to her apartment; he parked his car and came up to get her.

He told her jokes while he drove her to his little townhouse. It made her feel a little bit better. He brought her bag up to the guest room and Leonette, his wife, took a kettle off the stove. They drank herbal tea in relative silence until Margaery, Loras, and Willas walked through the front door. Marg borrowed her phone, she thought she lost her own in the car, not five minutes after she got back inside did Sansa get a call from Robb.

"Why didn't you say something?" He sounded as exhausted as she felt. iMarg/i.

"It wasn't the only reason, I've been thinking about it for a while." She answered softly. "You were right I was being selfish to expect you to come and get me." She realized that on the drive to the townhouse.

"No, you were trying to keep yourself safe. Anyway I found someone who can get you home."

"You did?" she was startled. It had hardly been two hours. "Robb,"

"I was going to tell you in the morning. Jon's in Kings Landing with his family. He's going to drive back to Colorado Saturday." Robb said. "Is that- is that soon enough?"

"Robb," she said.

"Where are you staying, where should I tell him to pick you up?"

"I have a shift at Highgarden that day,"

"No you don't," Margaery interrupted. "You'll stay here, I don't want you going places he know's you'll be."

"Where's here?" Marg parroted off the address, and Sansa repeated it. "Ok, I'll let him know."

"Thank you Robb,"

"I'll see you soon Sansa, love you."

"Love you."

She slept until ten on Thursday. She woke up to a text from Rickon iR u ok?/i She sent him the emoji that looked content, and a thumbs up. Leonette gave her a cup of coffee and made sure she was doing ok. Sansa snuggled up on the oversized couch with their little girls and watched The Little Mermaid. Leonette ran to the grocer and Sansa put in Frozen; they tried to braid her hair, then asked her to braid theirs. Snowy mountains, even in cartoons, made Sansa miss home, these little girls might not even see snow in their lives.

Arya called her around 2, when the girls had fallen asleep on the couch. "I'm excited that you get to go back," Arya was always homesick. She wouldn't come out and say it to Sansa. "And that you get to drive across the country, you know I've always wanted to do that," she sounded like she was chewing and talking.

"I'm excited too. Lucky that Jon was in Georgia."

"Oh he's been grumbling about going to that benefit for like months." Arya was so nonchalant. Arya was a wealth of knowledge about a lot of things, but in particular she knew a lot about Jon.

"I'm nervous about spending that much time with him, what do we talk about?"

"Jon's the easiest to talk to," Arya said easily. "He's a police officer, I'm sure you could ask questions about that. I bet he'd let you pick songs on his iPod, you could talk about that?"

"Good call," Sansa laughed. "You busy?"

"Yeah, I've got to go to practice. Love you,"

"Love you,"

On Friday Margaery and Loras took Sansa's key and packed up her things. The furnishings were provided, except for the little appliances. Sansa hadn't realized how much she accumulated when they returned with all of her luggage fully packed, and five boxes full of things. Marg had shoved Sansa's rent and keys under the door before she left.

Saturday Jon pulled up in a black Equinox, he gave her an awkward hug; the kind of hug you give when you're expected to give one but don't really know the person. Marg made a noise of approval when Jon hefted up the box of books that she iand/i Loras had to carry down to the car. He was certainly more filled out than the last time she saw him, maybe four years did that to a person.

It hadn't taken as much time to load the boxes as it had to unload them from Loras' Prius. She hugged the Tyrell's goodbye, Marg kissed her cheek and told her she'd always have a place at Highgarden, should she ever come back. She hadn't cried like she did when Robb dropped her off, but she was still a little sad to leave them, especially after they took care of her this week.

"Do you care if we make a stop for coffee?" Jon asked, like it was him who was crashing her road trip. She pegged him for an independent coffee guy, but they had to drive back through the city to get to the highway, and he pulled into a Starbucks with a drive-through. The car line was probably shorter than the line inside, so they sat in the air conditioning and waited. Sansa had pulled out her gold card for him to pay with. He tried to shrug her off, "it was my idea."

"I have this feeling you won't let me pay for gas, or where we stay; at least let me get this." He conceded and took the worn card from her hand. He took sugar in his iced coffee but no milk, she got an iced carmel macchiato. While they waited to turn out into traffic she thought he would set his GPS to take them back, but he didn't, easily navigating to I-16. He did in fact hand his iPod over to her, as Arya predicted, and she tried to find something that didn't sound melancholy.

"You can plug your phone in if you want," his car had a USB port. She didn't want to do it too soon and seem rude, but none of his music was good for driving. She set her phone to a Pandora station, at least there could be a healthy mix of 90's pop songs. Who didn't like a little nostalgia?

He chuckled when iMmbop/i started to play. He asked her if she was too cold when they were stopped in Atlanta traffic on I-75, but other than that he was content to drive to the white noise of music. She cracked the window as they drove past a peach orchard, and he instantly shut off the air apologizing. "No, it's not you." She insisted. "Smell," he did and pulled off at the next rest stop to back track to the little orchard.

"We have to gas up anyway. Prices are lower outside of the city." The country roads kicked up a little bit of dust on the black paint of the car, but eventually they stumbled across a little mom-and-pop gas station. Sansa got out, the espresso finally catching up to her. The humidity was making her hair a mess, she wound it into a quick braid, and made sure her mascara wasn't smudging circles under her eyes. They'd only been on the road for about three hours. If they didn't find a way to pass the time she was positive this would be the longest trip ever.

Jon was stocking up on snacks. He said he planned on driving at least six hours a day, she offered to take a shift, driving that long was a hard thing to do. He rejected her offer kindly, "when was the last time you even drove a car?" No one in Kings Landing drove. "It's fine, it's nice to have company." He said it like she really was keeping him company. His face was so earnest it made Sansa's heart twist uncomfortably.

He handed her a diet coke, "you still like these right?" She took it from him and smiled.

"Yeah, I do. How did you remember that?" She slid back into the passenger seat.

He had started the car, the blast of the air conditioner continued. "That summer I stayed with you guys before," he paused a second too long, "before everything happened you lived off of these. Every time I saw you there was one in your hand." She hadn't realized he even noticed her.

They had passed through Chattanooga, and over the river before he stopped at a hotel. They hadn't talked about arrangements, she overheard him requesting two rooms and balked. "Just get one with two beds Jon," he glanced over at her, trying to gauge how comfortable she really was with her request. Her smile came honestly, Jon was safe.

He let her shower first, and she scrubbed off the travel grime. She used the hotel sized shampoo and conditioner less generously than she usually would, Jon still had to use it as well. She dried her hair quickly until it was damp, and put on a safe sleep set. Had she been sharing this room with anyone other than Jon she might have been embarrassed, it was the kind of pajamas girls wore in front of their parents, not in front of boys.

Jon was reclined on the bed closest to the door when she stepped out, "all yours," she chirped. She snuggled under the blankets then reached for the outlet to charge her phone. The TV was on, specifically the weather channel. iIs Jon a closet old man?/i She didn't change the channel though, and she was glad she didn't. She forgot it was cold in October, she would have to wear jeans the rest of the trip.

Jon emerged from the bathroom shortly after one of the specials on natural disasters started. His t-shirt was already darker around the collar from his damp hair. "What time do you want to head out tomorrow?" He was setting the nightstand alarm instead of the one on his phone. She found that surprisingly endearing. iWhat's wrong with me?/i

"Whenever you want is fine,"

"Say eleven? Or is that too early?"

"Do you often sleep until ten in the morning?" He laughed and shook his head. "Eleven is fine though, we can eat breakfast before we leave."

"All right," he agreed.

When she woke up the curtains were still drawn, leaving the room dark. The alarm said 9:00, she looked across the room Jon's bed was already made up. The silence of the room let her know he wasn't there. His suitcase was still laying where he put it last night so she was sure he would be back.

She kicked her legs over the bed and pulled the curtains open, she stretched out her limbs reaching for the ceiling then touching her toes. Jon had said they'd be driving to Illinois today, it was probably cooler there in the midwest.

The door to the room opened after she had gotten dressed, when she was sweeping the mascara brush up her lashes. "Jon is that you?" She opened the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I went for a run, I thought you'd still be asleep." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I would have left a note."

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't nervous." And she wasn't, guys like Jon didn't abandon their best friends sister in random hotels. She shot Robb a text letting him know they were getting ready to get on the road. They caught the tail end of the complimentary breakfast, dragging their suitcases behind them and checked out.

Jon let her pick the music again and she settled for Hall and Oates, classic but upbeat, and they continued on their path of easy silence. After an hour she turned to him and asked "why did you drive down to Kings Landing? Wouldn't flying have been easier?" Not that she was complaining, but there weren't many people who would make a twenty-five hour drive both ways in a week.

She knew he heard her, his face shifted into one of thoughtfulness. She appreciated that he was considering the answer. "I think I've always wanted to do a cross-country trip. Take the pitstops, go to tourist attractions, see things outside of Colorado, you know?" She nodded, resting her cheek against the headrest to look at him. "I thought it would be one of those ifind myself/i moments."

"Where did you stop on the way down?"

"That's the thing, I didn't really stop anywhere. And it got really fuc-really boring just driving by myself. Once I hit Kansas I just started going for full days." He shook his head sheepishly.

"Well why don't we make some stops?" Sansa thought that sounded fun. "I just saw a sign for Nashville, there's probably plenty to see!" She faced away from him and picked up her phone, doing a quick google search. "Johnny Cash museum," she continued to scroll, "the largest log cabin," scroll, "botanical gardens!"

He checked his blindspot before switching lanes. "You really don't care?"

"Of course not!" City traffic was heavy for early afternoon. Jon parked and they decided to wander around on foot. They ran into a coffee shop and Sansa bought a couple bottles of water and shoved them into her purse. Jon furrowed his brow, "we're probably going to be walking a lot, we should stay hydrated."

The streets weren't overly crowded as they navigated on foot. She took a picture of him on her phone when he posed with one of Johnny Cash's old guitars, "I'll send it to you." She promised.

They walked to the replica Parthenon, and paid the fee to walk in. Sansa stared at the Athena statue for a long time, Jon asked if she wanted a picture with it, and when she said no and continued looking at it in awe, he asked if she was sure. Instead she took a picture to send to Arya, "I think Athena was her favorite."

"She was," Jon agreed. Sansa wondered how he remembered everything about a family that wasn't really his. She pulled out her phone again to take a picture of the two of them on the steps when a passerby asked if she'd like her to take the picture. Sansa agreed and passed her phone along, tugging on her hair to make sure it laid the right way against her shoulder. Jon didn't fuss like that, he fluffed his hair in a way that she might not have noticed if she hadn't spent a whole day with him.

"Ready?" The woman asked. Sansa fixed a smile on her face as the woman started counting, then she felt Jon's hand on her back. The woman had taken a couple of pictures before she handed the phone back, which was nice. Sansa always felt stupid when she asked for a re-take.

It was after three by the time they got back to Jon's car, Sansa could still feel his hand on the small of her back, though he'd taken it away just after the picture. She had gotten to know a little more about him throughout the day, just in observation. He wasn't a verbose man, but he made his words count.

Bran called while they were in traffic waiting to leave the city. Jon had programed the GPS for this part of the drive. Sansa stared at the phone while it rang, she didn't like talking on the phone when someone else was driving, it felt rude, but he insisted "I'm not going to be much company until we get out of Nashville."

"How are you holding up?" Bran asked her.

"I'm fine," she sighed out a laugh. "I think I overreacted."

"No way," Bran disagreed quickly. "You didn't trust that guy after the first time he talked to you. Remember?" How did Bran remember something like that. "I worry about you San."

"I'm the big sister, shouldn't I be the one worrying about you?"

"You worry about me plenty,"

"You're right," Sansa laughed, wiping at the corners of her eyes under her sunglasses. "How is studying?"

"It's the same as it always is, Robb said Jon's bringing you home? That's so cool." Clearly he didn't want to talk about himself.

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool." Jon caught her staring and she smiled easily. "We're just leaving Nashville."

"Did you go to the president's tomb?" Sansa laughed and told him no, then talked about the couple of places they saw. "You should go to Metropolis," she could hear the click-clack of his keyboard.

"Metropolis?" She shrugged when Jon looked at her questioningly. "That's Superman right?" Jon was nodding an answer when Bran confirmed it. "It doesn't exist."

"There's one in Illinois, I just looked it up." Jon was merging back onto I-24.

"I'll pass the word along to my trip master, but I'm going to go ok? We're back on the highway,"

"Yeah sure, tell Jon I say hi."

"Of course. And Bran? Thanks for checking up on me," she meant it genuinely. How many girls had a younger brother like hers?

"Love you San,"

"Love you too." She set the phone half under her thigh. Jon's music was playing. "Bran says hi," she told him and he smiled.

"He's a good kid. His birthday's next week isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." She nodded.

"When he turned seventeen Robb told him he could do anything he wanted for his birthday, he could go anywhere. Do you know what he said?"

"He had you guys take him to the Air and Space museum in Denver, didn't he? There was a Star Wars exhibit. He talked about it for two hours, it was the best day ever, he said." Her cheek was back against the rest looking at  
him.

"Yeah, we did end up doing that." He said fondly. "I think I have a picture in my apartment of that day." He glanced over at her. "Before that though, before he settled for the museum he wanted to go visit you."

She was quiet for a long time. "I didn't know that."

"Sorry, I didn't say it to make you upset," he stammered. "He's just always missed you, so has Robb." She smiled softly, it was nice of him to tell her that. His music continued to play, soft and mostly vocal.

They did end up taking a thirty minute detour to Metropolis, where they sent a picture of themselves in front of the sign to Bran.

They got a room with two beds again, and he took the one by the door. She had rummaged through all of the boxes and bags until she found her own shampoo and conditioner. The hotel stuff was nice, but she felt guilty leaving Jon with less than half a bottle, especially when he had more hair than most guys she'd known.

The steam from the shower let the scent of her shampoo waft into the room when she opened the door. "All yours," she said like she had the night before. He scrubbed at his beard before saying he was going to take a walk, he took one of the room keys, leaving the other on the nightstand. iWeird/i.

She was asleep by the time he got back, the light from the hall only came in for a second. He apologized for waking her up and started to get ready for bed. She closed her eyes again and didn't wake up until the alarm started to sound at 9:30.

Jon was already lacing up his battered converse when she woke up. "Morning," she stretched. His dark eyes darted up, and the corner of is mouth lifted. She kicked her legs over the bed, "if you're ready you should have woken me up." She crossed the room to her bag. "I'll be quick and then we can go for breakfast."

"Take your time," Jon's voice was steady. He was in no hurry and to prove his point he put his feet on the bed, and reclined against the headboard. His arms went behind his head and Sansa felt the tell-tale signs of a blush creep up her chest at the near obscene flex of his arms.

She stood at the bathroom counter, iyou're acting like you haven't seen a man in your whole life./i Sansa had definitely gone on dates since living in Kings Landing, with guys easily more conventionally attractive than Jon Snow. A guy she had known since she was a little girl, who was her brother's best friend. iNothing is going to happen anyway./i

Still she took a little extra time to get ready. She knew she was pretty, she always had been. It wasn't vanity but she had checks in most boxes, naturally red hair, bright blue eyes, a straight nose, her mouth wasn't full, but the basic symmetry was there. She didn't have to do much to make herself stand out, before she left home she loved putting on makeup and going out to flirt with older boys. After her first year in Kings Landing she got tired of the unwanted attention. So she tried to make herself blend in.

She felt more like herself when she walked out of the bathroom, it didn't matter if Jon reacted or not. She was happy, truly happy. She didn't feel like she was alone either, even when she was with Marg she felt lonely. Jon in his sure silence let her know he was around.

He pulled her bag down the hall, with his stacked on top of it. When he was handing over the room keys she ran back over to the breakfast bar to get to-go cups of coffee. Hers more milk than sugar, his was more bitter than sweet when she took a sip. He smiled more just this morning than he did their whole first day together.

"You pick the station today," she said, handing him her phone. Their drive to Carbondale with his iPod hadn't been nearly as sad as she thought it would be. iClassic Rock/i, she could deal with that. "I checked my phone at breakfast, we can stop in St. Louis today, and Kansas City!"

"Big day," he joked pulling onto the state route toward the interstate.

"Tell me about your job, Arya said you work for the police department. That sounds exciting."

"Maybe somewhere other than Winterfell, it's pretty quiet up there." He nodded. "My partner's a good guy, Sam. We're the only ones with a K-9 unit too."

"A dog?"

"Yeah, Ghost." He smiled, "I think I have a picture on my phone, you can pull it up if you want." Phones were private, Sansa hadn't even lived with anyone and she had a password set up. Jon's just slid to unlock, he only had twenty pictures on his phone. Most of them were group pictures, him with Robb at a bar in town; him and her brothers at a Broncos game; then she came across it him with a heavier young man and a dog. "We get to go to different things, like open houses, and safety days for kids." He'd given her plenty of time, letting her swipe through the pictures.

"That sounds nice," she gave his phone back. She didn't know what else to say and he didn't offer up any more information. She turned to stare out of the window , they were getting pretty close to the city.

He took her to the City Garden, "because we didn't go to the botanical garden in Nashville," he shrugged like it was no big deal. She linked her arm through his and pulled him onto the walkway. She took a picture in front of a rabbit sculpture, like she was Alice.

"It's so pretty here," there were a couple of kids walking through the wading pools, but it was only midday. Most kids were still in school, so it was pretty quiet as well, for a city. "Look you can see the archway!" She pointed excitedly.

They went there next, after taking the time to walk through the garden, stopping at a food truck for a quick lunch. The arch was crowded, and Jon's hand drifted to the small of her back again. Sansa made a trade with another tour group to take their picture, if they would take her's and Jon's. they got candy at the little shop under the arch and tried to work their way back to town. When they walked farther away Sansa took another one of just the arch, "they didn't get all of it in, it'll be a good picture to have."

They did more touristy things, like walked through the stunning churches downtown, Jon's hand stayed on her back and she didn't mind. He accepted a bottle of water gratefully when they got back to the car. "We just have to stay on 70 for a couple hours. You still good with classic rock?" She nodded, buckling her seatbelt.

"I'd like to go back there. Spend a couple days, the historic district sounds nice." Sansa said once they were back on the highway, if she turned she could still see the city.

"Some day we'll go back," Jon said.

"I'd like that," she didn't think he realized that he said the words aloud. Familiar chords sounded through the car during their stretch down I-70. Stevie Nicks always had a pretty voice, Sansa suspected she liked it because it was so different from her own. Her dad used to play this song when she had a bad day, he had it on vinyl, cassette, and a CD. She always imagined dancing to this at her wedding with him.

"What's wrong?" her head snapped to look at Jon. He was alternating between checking the road, and looking at her with concern. She hadn't realized she started to cry.

"It's nothing, really." She wiped her eyes. He shot her a ireally, I know you're lying,/i look. "This song just makes me think of my dad."

His brow lowered. "We can change it," he reached for the iPod and her hand shot out to cover his.

"Don't, it's good. I just haven't heard it in a long time." He didn't turn his palm, but he didn't withdraw it until he had to turn off the exit.

Their walk through Kansas City was even more comfortable than St. Louis. He told her little World War I facts as the walked through the museum; it wasn't necessarily the words that made her smile but the delivery when he would lean down and say it softly like a secret.

They took a couple of pictures of things around them, and she insisted on taking one when they left the museum, "just so we have one from every stop." She sent that one to her brothers and Arya, iwe miss you!/i she added, taking the liberty to include Jon in the message.

They drove the extra forty minutes to Lawrence before stopping and got checked in to another room. They followed their usual pattern, and once the end table light was shut off Sansa rolled on her bed to face his. "I haven't thanked you by the way," she said.

"What for?"

"Picking me up, driving me back."

"It's nothing. Don't even worry about it." He meant it. She wondered if he was always like that and she just never noticed.

"Well thank you."

In the morning when they went to breakfast she texted Bran. It was two days until his birthday, and he certainly didn't have a countdown like Rickon did, but she still wanted him to be excited. "What did he say he was going to do?" Jon asked, she could see the color of his eyes from this close, steely grey.

"Nothing. He said everyone was studying." Jon scoffed at that. "That's what I said to him, he said he was fine to spend it like any other day."

"Hold on," Jon pulled his phone out and started typing, "do you feel like making a detour?"

"A detour?" She asked. "A detour to the wall? To go see Bran?"

"Yeah," there was that nonchalance again, like it was something that people always did, offering to take girls to see their little brothers some eleven odd hours away from their trip. She nearly jumped across the table to kiss him.

Instead she hugged him tight. So different from three days ago. She stood on her toes to burry her face in the crook of his neck. It took him a moment to react, but she felt his hands flex on her back, smoothing her loose hair. "Thank you."

Jon said they would drive up to Sioux City today, then finish the drive to the Wall Wednesday. They listened to Alt-Pop on the way .

"You don't have to answer this," Jon started and she turned to him. "Why did you want to leave Kings Landing?" She knew he'd ask it eventually. She would bet money Robb had told him what he suspected. He'd given her honest, thoughtful answers, though. She owed him the same.

"Do you remember what you said about your original road trip? How you really wanted to have ia moment/i?" He nodded. She was actually happy he was driving, his listening usually had her stopping where she spoke. He would turn and focus fully on her. No, this was something she had to talk through. "All my life I dreamt of going somewhere like Kings Landing, where the city was always alive. Winterfell is nice, but you said it yourself, it's safe." She paused to gather her thoughts, "when dad died I felt like if I didn't leave I'd be stuck there forever. I'd never get to do anything for myself."

Jon's face gave nothing away as he listened. "When I got there and my moment didn't happen instantly I thought, oh well I just need some time. I put myself out there and made temporary friends, girls who lived down the hall from me; went on dates with boys I knew I wouldn't really end up with in the long run, the things I was supposed to do. It still didn't happen. The more people I was around the lonelier I was. That was why I really wanted to leave." She paused, "I was creeped out by my landlord, but I figured that was nothing. He was always finding excuses to talk to me, and hang around. It never felt right to me, but I didn't want to cause any trouble. Landlords have keys, but mine wasn't on the ring, and that just rubbed me the wrong way. Marg knew about it, and she texted Robb."

His knuckles were white on the wheel. "Instincts are usually right you know," he said. "I'm glad I could help."

"I'm glad you could too." She laid her palm on the dividing line of the car and he took the invitation to lace his fingers with hers. Friendly, he probably did it with Arya all the time. She would take this though, his friendship.

She hadn't seen Jon walk with his arm around her little sister's shoulder like he was now, as they walked down the streets of Sioux City. iYou've just told him some heavy personal stuff, he just feels protective./i She probably could have convinced herself that the way she leaned into him was only to compensate for her light jacket, there was something in the glide of his fingertips over her arm though that let her know she didn't have to convince herself of anything.

She was shier that night, when she changed into her parent-friendly pajamas. They had talked easily as they walked through the city, but they hadn't talked about the palpable change in their relationship.

Her phone started to buzz, text alert. iDid you tell her yet?/i Robb. Followed quickly by iFuck, ignore that. Wrong number/i. She heard Jon's phone chime from across the room. iSubtle Robb/i she wanted to laugh. Especially when Jon's hand darted to the back of his neck, at the second chime, she could see a blush creeping up through his beard when his eyes rose to meet hers.

"I'm guessing you got that too?" He knew she wasn't stupid and that she could easily put things together.

"Got what?" She widened her eyes, she wouldn't force his hand. She didn't need the comfort of a label.

The next morning she was buzzing with excitement, and it seemed infectious. Jon seemed to have more energy as well. She didn't even feel bad when she put on cheesy pop music. Bran was done with class at three, he'd have an hour between then and their arrival. She really wanted to surprise him. She sent him a text and she had Jon do the same. One stop for gas and a little caffeine and they had gotten to the Wall.

She lifted Jon's heavy arm and put it around her shoulder when they got out of the car. She could see the smile on his face from the corner of her eye. Her phone started to go off, "hi Bran,"

"Hi San,"

"How's your birthday been?" She was trying hard to keep her voice steady.

"It's been ok."

"iOk/i? Well that's just unacceptable," Jon's shoulders were quaking at her; she was excited and it was creeping into the lie. "Why don't you go outside for a second? I bet it's really pretty out there today."

"Are you outside?" And Jon was laughing truly now. "You are aren't you?"

"It sounds like you might know the answer. Do you want us to come inside, or do you want to show us around? It's actually pretty cold out."

"I'll be out in a second," the line went dead and she turned to Jon.

"Cut it out you,"

"Arya used to say you were the worst liar, I didn't believe it was possible to be that bad."

"I'm a good liar when I need to be. I wanted to surprise Bran, but he was always going to find out." Bran was rolling out onto the sidewalk and Jon's arm fell off her shoulder slowly. He didn't care if Bran saw, but he knew she wanted to see her brother and wouldn't be the one to hold her back.

"Happy Birthday!" She dropped down to hug him fully. Arya always tried to lift her up when they hugged, and Rickon always wanted to cling like a monkey. Bran hugged her the way she did Robb, like the sibling who could never let them down.

"Robb told me you guys might be coming, but I didn't really believe him until you texted me today." She looked over her shoulder at Jon.

"I thought he would realize it was a surprise. I didn't want him to think we were lost or something." He held his arms up. He hugged Bran too. "So what do you want to do today?"

"You're staying the rest of the day?"

"Of course we are!" Sansa promised.

"Can we do the river walk? You'd think it's so pretty Sansa."

"If that's what you want to do then that's what we'll do." She said. Sansa rubbed her hands up her arms. If she knew they were going to be outside she would have layered up.

"Let's go back to your dorm and grab a coat for your sister first." Jon suggested. "She's been in the south too long." He teased. Bran got them back to his room, some of his friends were sitting in the lobby surrounded by their books.

He introduced her and Jon to them. They were all friendly, if not a little odd. Sansa liked that though, odd-balls were easier to trust than cool kids. Bran gave her a heavy parka, that was surprisingly big on her. "When did you grow up?" She teased.

They didn't have to drive to get to the river. Bran was talking all about the history of the area surrounding the Wall. He was a good guesser too, she did think the walk was pretty. She took a few pictures on her phone of the scenery, some of the winter flowers that bloomed. Mostly they took pictures of eachother. Jon pushing Bran's chair, Sansa and Bran staring out at the river. A picture of the three of them made its way to a Stark group message.

They followed the path for a long time, Bran filled in a lot of the silence. At one point Jon reached over and took Sansa's hand. "Where do you want to get dinner from?" Sansa asked Bran.

"There's a place, iHardins/i, it's supposed to be good. We always eat in the dining hall." Bran said. That was where they ended up. Sansa ordered a little cake for dessert, she didn't embarrass him and sing ihappy birthday/i though, that was Robb territory. When Bran started to yawn Jon clapped him on the shoulder and they left.

She squeezed Bran tight before they left. "I'm going to miss you." She kissed his temple.

"I'm going to miss you too," he said. "I'll see you at Thanksgiving this year though." He reminded her. "And all Christmas break."

"That's right," she agreed, finally she let him go, shrugging off his parka. She let him have his goodbyes with Jon, and they watched him get back into his hall. Jon's arm was back around her shoulder as they nearly ran back to the car.

They drove to a little hotel, the closest one to the college and the man behind the desk laughed when Jon asked for their usual, two beds. "It's nearly Halloween and we're the closest hotel to a school, do you think we'll have rooms open?"

"You have to have something, it's this weekend, not tomorrow." Sansa chimed in smiling. The man sighed and turned back to his computer. Jon's fist clenched, and she wrapped her arm around his wrist to calm him down.

"I have an economy." He finally answered. "But you have to be out of here before eleven."

"Absolutely, thank you so much!" Sansa took the room key and followed Jon down the appropriate hallway. She unlocked the door and her eyes fell on the one bed. iWe're adults, sharing a bed is no big deal/i.

"Do you care if I take the top blanket, and a pillow?" Jon asked as she dragged her things to the chair.

"I hope you're not implying that you're sleeping on the floor."

"Well yeah," Jon said with a shrug. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"You're not sleeping on the floor Jon. You're driving for a long time tomorrow, and we were out and about today. It won't be the end of the world if we share a bed."

"As long as you're ok with it." He said. She nodded, and followed the routine they'd set. She'd shifted over for him once he was showered. He tried to allow her space in the bed by laying on the side opposite her. She rolled onto her side.

"You can come closer," she laughed. It was sweet, his respect for her space, but he'd spent nearly a day standing closer to her than this. He listened and joined her in the center of the bed. She rested her head on his chest then, "thank you again, for everything." She kissed the corner of his jaw and he looked down at her, she saw his eyes dart to her mouth then back to her eyes. She craned her neck and kissed the corner of his mouth. He tilted his head down a touch so she could kiss him truly, which made her smile against his lips. His nose bumped hers when he pulled her closer. She felt his hands flex on her hips tugging her half on top of him. She started to laugh when he kissed her neck, beard rubbing against her skin.

They were well out of the room by eleven. Jon carrying their luggage, Sansa their coffee, both looking a little more worn than they had the night before. When they sat down in the car Sansa reached into her bag, putting moisturizer onto her reddened cheeks. She had forgotten how it was having a beard rub against her skin, Jon's swollen mouth grinned at her and she couldn't help but grin back.

"Come on, let's get you home."

Note: Title is from the song "Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin


End file.
